If I understand wright, QR codes need to be put on the ground wherever the blind person wants to use this app?
Sent from my iPhone > On Jan 8, 2014, at 7:16 PM, "Gary Bowers" <gh...@swbell.net> wrote: > > App Turns Smartphone Into Virtual Cane for the Blind > > MIT Technology Review > January 8, 2014 > > > A smartphone app inspired by Greek mythology has the potential to help the > blind navigate indoors where GPS is unavailable. > > > It's easy to imagine that being blind or visually impaired more or less > excludes people from using smartphones or tablets. But nothing could be > further from the truth. App stores have a dizzying variety of products that > help the visually impaired access all kinds of information much more easily > than would otherwise be possible. > > These apps offer audio books, match clothes by colour and even offer games > played by hearing and touch alone. But the apps designed to give directions > all suffer from the same drawbacks-audio directions are helpful but also > screen out other audio such as conversations or the sound of traffic nearby. > What's more, GPS does not work indoors so these kinds of systems are of > little use in homes and other buildings > > Now Pierluigi Gallo and buddies at the University of Palermo in Italy have > come up with an alternative which offers the blind navigational help without > any form of audio distraction or the need for GPS. > > The approach is surprisingly simple and inspired by the famous Greek myth of > Ariadne and Theseus. In the story, Theseus volunteers to kill the Minotaur > which lives in a labyrinth on the island of Crete. To help him, Ariadne > gives him a sword to kill the beast and a ball of thread to help him find > his way out when the deed is done. > > Gallo and co take a similar approach with their prototype smartphone app > called Arianna, the Italian name for Ariadne. (It's also short for "pAth > Recognition for Indoor Assisted NavigatioN with Augmented perception.) Their > idea is to map out a route through a building by sticking coloured tape on > the ground. > > The user then switches on the smartphone camera and points it towards the > ground, while placing a finger on the screen. He or she then waves the > camera back and forth, scanning the ground for the line. > > In the meantime, the app analyses the frames produced by the camera, picking > out the line as it moves across the screen. When the line passes under the > user's finger on the screen, the app causes the smartphone to vibrate, > providing a tactile indication of where the line falls. > > Scanning the smartphone back and forth allows the user to follow the line in > the same way as he or she might use a cane (see diagram above). At the same > time, QR codes placed on the ground can give the user other information such > as the location of places such as toilets, water coolers, shops and so on. > > Gallo and co say they tested their virtual cane in December at workshop in > Boston organised by the Andrea Bocelli Foundation and say it works well. > > And they plan significant upgrades in future. One idea is to use infrared > lines that are not visible but can nevertheless be picked up by smartphone > cameras which are sensitive to infrared. This infrared sensitivity is > currently an under-used feature of most smartphones, they point out. And > that raises the possibility of games and challenges that are equally > accessible to the blind and sighted. > > All in all, this software could be a significant help to the blind and > visually impaired. Hi-tech aids for this disability tend to be expensive > because they have to be specially designed and manufactured for a relatively > small group of people. But with smartphones widely available at affordable > prices, much of the technology necessary for Ariana is available > off-the-shelf. > > Gallo and co don't say when their new idea will be available as a commercial > app or how much it will cost but it has the potential to be significantly > cheaper than a bespoke device. > > So: useful, simple and potentially cheap. Not a bad combination for an app. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google > Group. > > Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing viphone@googlegroups.com. > > Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting > http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. > > Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by emailing > viphone+ow...@googlegroups.com. > > Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailing > viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > > More VIPhone group options can be found by visiting > http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "VIPhone" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "VIPhone" Google Group. Post a new message to VIPhone by emailing viphone@googlegroups.com. Search and view the VIPhone archives by visiting http://www.mail-archive.com/viphone@googlegroups.com/. Reach the VIPhone owner and moderators by emailing viphone+ow...@googlegroups.com. Unsubscribe and leave VIPhone by emailing viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. More VIPhone group options can be found by visiting http://groups.google.com/group/viphone?hl=en. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "VIPhone" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to viphone+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
